The designations 1-up and 2-up have been used in the bindery industry to identify distinct operating modes. In the 1-up mode, printed signatures used to compose individual books are consecutively gathered, bound and trimmed serially along a bindery line. The basic 2-up operation differs from 1-up in that each 2-up signature usually consists of identically printed halves married along a common edge. After stitching the books formed of 2-up signatures are divided to provide separate books.
Heretofore bindery lines have operated either in the 1-up mode or in the 2-up mode. The 1-up mode provides maximum flexibility, while the 2-up mode provides a high output rate because each operation in the bindery line is performed on two books simultaneously.
1-up bindery systems provide maximum flexibility in customizing of books according to the special interests of a subscriber or the special needs of people in particular areas of the country. Individual bindery lines can be controlled to produce customized books for a specific destination with individual books that have special pages for particular subscribers; and there may be inserts and/or customized ink jet printing on selected signatures internally of the books. Also possible is the elimination of otherwise burdensome and complicated sorting by postal zone which is required to comply with postal regulations and to take advantage of attractive postal discounts, and there is also very easy bundling of books for the most efficient and economical nonpostal delivery.
The type of flexibility which is possible in modern 1-up bindery systems is demonstrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,899,165 (Abram et al.) and 4,121,818 (Riley et al.), both assigned to the assignee of this invention.
Less sophisticated systems than those disclosed in the above identified patents, but which nevertheless permit the customizing of magazines and catalogs, are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,819,173, 3,902,708, 3,917,252, and there are several others which relate to various aspects of customized gathering of books for saddle stitching.
There is very little freedom to customize books in the 2-up mode because the married pages of the 2-up signatures are usually identical, so books can be customized only in pairs.
The present invention, which mixes 2-up signatures and 1-up signatures in a single bindery line, provided for customization of books through the use of 1-up signatures, while the mixing of 2-up signatures with the 1-up, and the use of a 2-up cover, permits gathered signatures to be carried through the stitching and trimming stages as though they were entirely 2-up assemblies.